Dick Tracy battles the fiendish "Claw" in one of his most difficult cases.


This movie is part of the collection: Feature Films

Director: John Rawlins
Production Company: RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Audio/Visual: sound, black and white
Keywords: Dick Tracy; Crime; Detective

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: accalaurie49 - - June 6, 2010
Subject: Stereotypes
Colorful types, one attribute characterizes the whole person, villains are brutal and ruthless, they usually have scars, a bald head or, as in this case, a crippled leg and a hook instead of a hand (nice predecessor of George Kennedy in "Charade"). Only Boris Karloff in " Dick Tracy meets Gruesome" didn´t need such gimmicks, but, well, he is Boris Karloff!

The Dick Tracy Character was less impressive than Morgan Conway in my opinion.

If you don´t expect more than a comic strip on screen, you get everything you want and are satisfied as I am.

Reviewer: jmcorry1 - - April 5, 2009
Subject: Great!
I think this is a great little flick... It even had me on the edge of my seat at times! The acting is pretty good for a film of this caliber.

Reviewer: Shadows_Girl - - January 3, 2009
Subject: Dick Tracy and Me
I have never cared much for Dick Tracy and I still don't. I do, however, have a thing for Ralph Byrd---maybe because we're both from Ohio, originally and us "Buckeyes" gotta stick together. I think Ralph's talents are much better showcased in things like the SOS COASTGUARD serial (which pits him against Bela Lugosi) but he's fine to watch in this turkey too. He's also pretty good battling "The Spider" (and his own brother "Gordon Tracy" who has been surgically altered so he "won't know the difference between good and evil"---but I really should save all that for a review of the serial.)

What can I say about THIS one---it's heaps better than that Warren Beatty---Madonna big-budget disaster from 1990 which just proves that some things can't be remade properly no matter how much you're willing to spend.

About the sound...I watched the MPEG 4 and I also had no problems. Maybe some viewers need to check what programs they are using to watch these films. Not all are equal. Windows Media Player has about the worst media viewer around I almost never watch films using that...Real Player is better for MPEG 1 but I have the one you pay for with the 10 band equalizer and the enhanced video controls...I can't say as to the free version...and, of course, Quicktime for MPEG 4. You might also want to invest in some decent speakers and a good sound card.

Three stars for this film---all because of Ralph Byrd.

By the way---all Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes movies were American films, morons.

Reviewer: sciwriter - - December 11, 2007
Subject: Basil would enjoy this film
IMO film is a USA version of Sherlock Holmes movies starring Basil Rathbone.

Reviewer: castorswind - - December 9, 2007
Subject: Clean
It`s nice to watch a clean and campy movie. No blood,guts and sleaze. A little mystery, a little humor.....Thank You.

Reviewer: gentle ben - - February 11, 2006
Subject: Better than the Dick Tracy serial, but not by much
An average B-movie with a better story line than the Dick Tracy serial, but not by much. The actor playing Tracy, Ralph Byrd, who also plays him in the serial, isn't as good an actor as Morgan Conway, who plays Tracy in "Dick Tracy Detective." That movie is also better scripted and executed.

However, there are some of the expected Tracy characters in the movie, such as Vitamin Flintheart, Longshot Lillie, Sightless (a sighted 'Blind Beggar'), and the Claw. The movie has an interesting opening as a line drawing of the Claw morphs into the live character.

Reviewer: terracesider - - January 6, 2006
Subject: Entertainment
I found it an entertaining way to pass an hour or so. I think it is the best of the Dick Tracy films on here.

Reviewer: billbarstad - - December 27, 2005
Subject: Not so hot
I downloaded the mpeg4 of this episode and, unlike the last reviewer, found the sound quality to be as fine as the video quality. Just some negligible crackling occasionally.

This does bring up the issue of the poor sound quality found in many of the movies here. There are programs available that enhance quality without any detriment. I wish they were used in the preparation of the downloadable files.

I found this episode less entertaining and with a less plausible story than the last episode I downloaded, 'Dick Tracy meets Gruesome."

Reviewer: Leo@Westwind Studios - - December 24, 2005
Subject: Bad sound track
well i down loaded this a couple of times thinking that the down load was bad but after seeing the quality of the picture which is very good and the size of the download which is very high concidering the movie is just alittle less than an hour I have concuded that the sound track was bad from the start
it's like watching an over dubbed horror flick! don't wast your time on this one!

Reviewer: jimelena - - December 21, 2005
Subject: Light entertainment
Oh boy, I'm the first to review for once.
And it's easy too. It's the old Dick Tracy, contrived, corny, not meant to be the main attraction.
But fun to watch with no need to be analytical.